All went remarkably well and trunks up to all those who made it happen! The first half (6-9pm) saw 3 half hour showcase sets for some visiting student reps, as part of the afternoon gigbeth conference, and despite it being an early eve performances, Smiley Mic, Mama Matrix and our very own Dj Marc Reck and Vj Liam Blendstate, all demonstrated in full effect what they do.

From 9pm was the aforementioned gigbeth fringe show organised by Consider it Done, with a little input from us. Apparently, and thankfully for us, it was one of the busiest venues, and turned out to be a really fantastic evening attracting a truly ecletic mix of people.

First up was Laura Louise, all the way from New Zealand, and with a  truly stunning voice, she delivered a magical set using her acoustic guitar and flute all going through a footpedal to create lush harmonic layers coupled with emotional lyrics.

Next up were Mr Elephant favourites Mama Matrix, who delivered a blistering set of Balkan Gypsy Jazz from start to finish and left only a handful of people sitting down. A truly amazing band!

Smiley Mic was up next and showed us what a real one man band looks like with his firsr gig in Birmingham. Easily switching up styles from acoustic layers, to star wars, culminating in a prize winning sugar hill gang remix, Smiley is one face you need to keep an eye on (and a thoroughly lovely bloke)

And then our very own Marc Reck was seeminly up to finish the night with as many styles as he could fit in, and even a live jam! Starting with breaks and house, and switching into a myriad of drum and bass styles, the space which had previously been occupied by all the instruments and p.a was quickly replaced with a room full of smiley dancing people. After a brief dj mc jam, he finished up the evening with a stack of soul, indie and shameless crowdpleasers resulting in hour and a half extension til 3.30 am!

You can catch some of the sets on www.rhubarbradio.com (plus other gigbeth shows), and you can read about it on the consider it done blog, or Smiley Mic’s, or number one digbeth blogger Nicky Getgood’s who was seen tearin up the dancefloor til the wee hours!